Remember this time Elon Musk saved SpaceX & Tesla? (Video)



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Published on [22 juillet 2009] |
by Guest contributor

22 July 2018 by Guest contributor


Original publication on EVANNEX .
By Iqtidar Ali

Tesla and SpaceX are not just two businesses run by Elon Musk – these are two visions: 1) a sustainable future here on Earth and 2) the expansion of the human race to d & # 39; Other planets. The two companies that were aiming at these bold, larger-than-life goals, had to face much more challenging times than today.

Elon Musk is without a doubt one of the most ambitious CEOs of a generation. Musk could easily have retired to an island after receiving $ 165 million following the acquisition of PayPal by eBay in 2002. Instead, he chose to invest all PayPal's profits in Tesla and SpaceX. But it was not easy. Both mission-oriented companies were saved from total bankruptcy due to Musk's resilience and agility.

SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) needed rockets to create a financially viable business model. deliver commercial payloads to satellites in the orbit. At first, Elon Musk flew to Russia to obtain low-cost intercontinental ballistic missiles, but returned unsuccessfully. Upon returning from Russia, Musk realized that by applying a vertical integration production methodology, SpaceX would be able to drastically reduce raw material costs.

In-house manufacturing of 85% of the launch equipment allowed SpaceX rocket, the Falcon 1, at a cost significantly lower than that it would have spent for the purchase of one. similar product. Musk has also recruited some of the best engineers from other companies, such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to create a world-class team.

Musk also made a crazy self-learning in the fields of rocket science and space technologies to build his personal knowledge and led his young team to SpaceX.

Musk's aggressive delays led to the creation and first launch of SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket – unfortunately, the first flight of Falcon 1 (March 24, 2006) only lasted 41 seconds d & # 39; explode. Nevertheless, this event did not diminish the hopes of Musk and the SpaceX team

Only a year later, the second flight of Falcon 1 also failed and the third in August 2008 experienced the same fate as the two previous ones.

The fourth flight of the Falcon 1 was the last SpaceX could afford – if it was not going to be a success, SpaceX would surely have gone bankrupt. Before the flight, it seemed that all the problems had been solved and Musk (and SpaceX) had had a successful flight.

The next morning, Musk received a call from NASA and SpaceX was awarded a $ 1.5 billion commercial commercial flight contract. – More than enough to save the company from bankruptcy

To date, SpaceX has made more than 100 launches that represent more than $ 12 billion in contract revenue.

Tesla

Tesla (formerly Tesla Motors) is the second-oldest publicly traded US automaker, after only Ford. The creation and management of a large automotive company is a huge challenge – competing companies often have more than 100 years of experience in the industry.

Elon Musk (an early investor), JB Straubel (now Tesla's CTO), Martin Eberhard (Tesla's first general manager), Marc Tarpenning, and Ian Wright founded Tesla Motors in 2003 with the dream of the world. to provide sustainable transportation to the people, but things really started in a chaotic way

  Above: Elon Musk in front of SpaceX with a Tesla Model S Elon Musk standing in front of SpaceX with a Tesla Model S (19459017)

Three of Tesla's five founders (with the exception of Elon Musk and JB Straubel) had left the company due to managerial differences – Musk later took over as Tesla Motors' CEO in 2006.

Well Tesla Motors had 100 pre-orders of its first long-range electric sports car, the "Tesla Roadster" was experie It was not able to start production of Roadster until March 2008.

The first manufacturer of electric vehicles dedicated quickly ran out of cash and desperately needed external funds to survive the global economic crisis of 2008.

Elon Musk decided, as a last resort, to approach Daimler for a contract that could help save l & # 39; company. In September 2008, Musk took a flight to Stuttgart, Germany, and met with Daimler executives to return with the promise that the leaders would visit Tesla's Fremont factory in November.

Musk and the Tesla team had a small opportunity to survive and had 6 weeks to impress the Daimler leaders. The idea of ​​Musk was to turn Daimler's smart car into an EV before the Daimler team arrived – however, smart cars were not made for the United States at the time. # 39; era. So, JB Straubel had to search for the vehicle in Mexico.

With 5 and a half weeks of hard work, Elon Musk and the Tesla team were able to equip the Smart with a battery. and the engines. Then, the Daimler team received a demonstration of the very first Smart Electric Drive electric vehicle that was assembled in less than 6 weeks by Musk and his resilient team at Tesla. Indeed, it impressed the Prof. Dr. Herbert Kohler and his Daimler team

  Smart Electric Drive EV at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show Smart Electric Drive EV at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. By David Villarreal Fernández (smart electric player downloaded by TheCuriousGnome) [ CC BY-SA 2.0 ] via Wikimedia Commons

This effort got a last-minute deal with Daimler and gave Tesla gained credibility with a $ 50 million investment in the company that l He saved from financial ruin.

Speaking of Tesla's experience on impending death, Musk explained at Tesla's 2016 shareholders' meeting: "If we did that, Tesla we died because the Daimler partnership gave us credibility, that a big OEM was ready to work with us, and they also paid us for the development program (Smart ED2) that is really useful from the point of view of revenue. "

Editor's note: How Will Things Happen After This Difficult Time in Tesla?

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Tags: Elon Musk, Falcon 1, JB Straubel, Mercedes, PayPal, Russia, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SpaceX, Tesla, Tesla Roadster


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